actually when my son was young he had 'the hobbit' book, and the'rankin bass' movie as well as 'return of the king', that's when i first became aware of them, but didn't have much interest, that was the mid-80's. but when i heard that PJ was making the movies i went ahead and read the books. i LOVED them, i've been hooked on all things Tolkien since. i've read the trilogy 4 times, the 'hobbit' 3, 'silmarillion' 5, 'children of hurin' 1, just to name a few. what an adventure they are! and so complex, it's easy to find some new tidbit that may have gone unnoticed before. try to read them once a yr.

Favorite Tolkien character:

that's like asking to choose your favorite child, i have a great love and respect for so many, i don't think i can choose.